On September 11, the reporter learned from Chongqing Municipal Bureau of Planning and Natural Resources that the research on new fish fossil materials in the Chongqing specific burial fossil pool led by Chongqing Municipal Bureau of Planning and Natural Resources and the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has made new progress and found new jawless fish&mdash& mdash; The research on the armored fish, Miaojiaaspis dichotomus gen. et sp. nov., was published online in the Vertebrata Palasiatica journal
Research has found that the bifurcating juvenile fish belongs to the true armored fish species, with the typical arrangement of elongated dorsal holes and head armor lateral lines of true armored fish species. The end of the transverse tube on the head armor side shows a bifurcated state, and the species name is“ Double Fork” From this, it is derived
The research team found through detailed comparative anatomical studies that the double forked Miaojia fish and the agile Tujiaaspis vividus, which appeared on the cover of the Nature journal in 2022, are closely related and share many similar characteristicsSurprisingly, the Double Forked Miaojia fish preserves a portion of its body connected to its head armor, as well as paired fin folds located on both sides of its ventral surface.
. The fin folds of armored fish were first seen in agile Tujia fish, and the discovery of paired fin folds in armored fish is the origin of paired appendages in vertebrates; Fin Fold Theory; Provided key fossil evidenceChen Yang, a national paleontological fossil expert, deputy chief engineer and senior engineer of the Mineral Resources Branch of Chongqing Geological and Mineral Research Institute, said that after the agile Tujia fish, the presence of ventral fin folds has been found in the double forked Miaojia fish, which may represent the widespread existence of ventral fin folds in armored fish. The ventral fin folds are the embryonic form of limbs in vertebrates, including humans
Phylogenetic analysis shows that the bifurcate family fish and the agile Tujia fish form a monophyletic group, named Tujiaaspidae.
“ Tujia Fish Family; It has been extinct for nearly 436 million years and consists of two genera, Tujia fish and Miaojia fish, both named after Xiushan Tujia and Miao Autonomous County. This is also a continuation; Yongdong Fish Family; Afterwards, the second family level paleontological taxonomic unit named after Chongqing was established
The research team also discovered a pair of longitudinal lateral lines (important sensory organs in fish and amphibians) on the body of the double forked fry, which is the first discovery in armored fish
In September 2022, Chongqing Municipal Bureau of Planning and Natural Resources, together with the team of academician Zhu Min of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, reported Chongqing's specially buried fossil pool in the form of a cover paper on the international academic journal Nature. This fossil repository is another unique burial fossil repository discovered in China, following the Chengjiang and Rehe Biota, providing a significant amount of key evidence for exploring important nodes in the evolution of the Tree of Life. It pushes the complete fossil record of jawed dinosaurs back 11 million years
In order to protect and study the Chongqing Special Buried Fossil Library, Chongqing Geological and Mineral Research Institute, as the responsible unit, has carried out in-depth research work and successively discovered well preserved, numerous, and highly diverse jawed and jawless fish species
Zhu Min, academician of the CAS Member and director of the Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origin of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said that Chongqing attaches great importance to paleontology research and has achieved great results& ldquo; Chongqing Special Buried Fossil Library; It is a biome mainly composed of ancient fish, which are diverse and well preserved. Filled in“ From Fish to Man; The missing initial link in the history of evolution has changed the world's traditional understanding of the evolution of life. It can be said to be a field of life sciences and earth sciences; A priceless treasure